Thursday, September 24, 2015

Our Lady of Walsingham

The following comes from Patron Saints Index:

In 1061 Lady Richeldis de Faverches, lady of the manor near the village of Walsingham, Norfolk, England, was taken in spirit to Nazareth. There Our Lady asked her to build a replica, in Norfolk, of the Holy House where she had been born, grew up, and received the Annunciation of Christ's impending birth. She immediately did, constructing a house 23'6" by 12'10" according to the plan given her. Its fame slowly spread, and in 1150 a group of Augustinian Canons built a priory beside it. Its fame continued to grow, and for centuries it was a point of pilgrimage for all classes, the recipient of many expensive gifts.


In 1534 Walsingham became one of the first houses to sign the Oath of Supremacy, recognizing Henry VIII as head of the Church in England. Dissenters were executed, and in 1538 the House was stripped of its valuables, its statue of the Virgin taken to London to be burned, its buildings used as farm sheds for the next three centuries.
In 1896 Charlotte Boyd purchased the Slipper Chapel and donated it to Downside Abbey. In 1897 Pope Leo XIII re-founded the ancient shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham, and pilgrimages are permitted to resume. The statue of Our Lady is enshrined in 1922 beginning an era of cooperation at the shrine between Catholics and Anglicans. In 1981 construction began on the Chapel of Reconciliation, a cooperative effort between the two confessions, and located near the shrine. The feast of Our Lady of Walsingham was reinstated in 2000. For more information on this historic shrine click here.

3 comments:

Equiti Albo Crucis said...

I became acquainted with Our Lady of Walsingham after reading about the British Association of the Order of Malta's annual pilgrimage there. Then I found a little booklet from the Catholic Truth Society about it and now the post on your site. I am going to have to "borrow" your photos and link to your post.

As a former teacher at an all boys school that followed the teaching philosophy of St. Don Bosco I'm glad to see a faithful son of his doing such wonderful work as you are doing. Thank you.

Padre Steve said...

Thanks very much! God bless you!

Judy Kallmeyer said...

It is also the feast of Our Lady of Ransom, also known as Our Lady of Mercy.